#WriterWednesday with Belinda Betker
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I’d like to welcome Belinda Betker to the blog for #WriterWednesday.
Favorite thing to do when you have free time: I’m a life-long voracious reader, and I often read up to five or six books at a time. I particularly read poetry, memoirs, and novels that have been recommended by friends. I also love word puzzle magazines, especially when I need to think things through about my own writing. I love walking with my wife and dog in a 300-acre forest close to city limits. I love spending time with friends, family, and the groups I volunteer with.
The thing you’ll always move to the bottom of your to do list: Washing floors and walls.
Things you need when you’re in your writing cave: I keep a good supply on hand of my favourite style of journal – 6”x8”, soft cover, with ruled lines and built-in ribbon page marker. My favourite pen is a Uni-ball JetStream, blue ink. Beyond that, I need my PC, good lighting, and good music when I write and edit.
Things that distract you from writing: Necessary housework; or an invitation out for tea, a meal, a good movie, or a great concert.
Favorite snacks: Flavoured potato chips, especially dill pickle, or sour cream & onion.
Things that make you want to gag: Bananas – the texture is horrible, but I can tolerate them when they’re baked into cakes or a loaf.
Something you’re really good at: I excel at procrastination!
Something you’re really bad at: Tackling tasks and chores that should be done that I really don’t want to do.
Something you wanted to be when you were a kid: I thought I’d be an early-grades elementary school teacher.
Something you do that you never dreamed you’d do: I never dreamed I’d have a proverbial ‘room of one’s own’ to write in, and that I’d become a published poet.
Something you wish you could do: Sky diving, parasailing, ziplining, etc. – anything where I could safely experience free-falling or moving quicky through the air.
Something you wish you’d never learned to do: Housework – I really dislike housework!
Things to say to an author: I absolutely love your book, & this is why (& then be specific.)
Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: I don’t like your writing style or what you write about.
Favorite places you’ve been: Australia – everywhere there I’ve already been to, and I’d go anywhere there I haven’t been yet. I’ve also enjoyed all the major Canadian cities I’ve visited, as well as numerous smaller cities, towns, and national/provincial/regional parks.
Places you never want to go to again: Anywhere I’ve been has been interesting enough to be worth the experience.
Favorite things to do: Write and read haiku, poems, and memoirs; people-watch anywhere and anytime; spend time with my favourite people; walk and play with our dog; attend literary events, concerts, and non-mainstream films; travel; spend time in nature; eat great food; and find some joy in every day.
Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: I don’t like doing housework, but I do it because I really like a clean home.
Most embarrassing moment: Realizing that someone I thought liked me really didn’t.
Proudest moment: My first book launch, and seeing all the people that attended from all different areas and times of my life.
The nicest thing a reader said to you: “I love your book, and I especially love your poem Why a Parade.
The craziest thing a reader said to you: “What did you eat for breakfast today, and why?”
The most exciting thing about your writing life: How much fun it is to write, edit and get published.
The one thing you wish you could do over in your writing life: Start writing seriously much earlier in life.
About Belinda:
Belinda's poetry and award-winning haiku are in various anthologies, literary journals, and chapbooks. Her poetry collection, Phases, was a 2020 finalist for two Saskatchewan Book Awards. The second edition, published in 2022, contains thirty-one additional new poems.
Belinda is a founding member of two long-running Saskatoon writing groups, Sisters' Ink, and The Obsessors. Beyond writing, she is a Board member of both Spark Your Pride, and Queer Seniors of Saskatchewan.
When she’s not writing, editing, mentoring, or volunteering, Belinda reads voraciously, especially poetry and memoirs. She lives in Saskatoon with her Australian wife and their rescue dog, a springer-spaniel/terrier cross.
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